August 21, 2007

... napper? Why must we feel ashamed? In fact, why shouldn't our employers provide us with nap rooms? Some actually do. Or maybe you can set up your own office to make it nappable. Back in my home office, in Wisconsin, I have a perfect sofa for napping. And it is not goofing off. A 20 minute nap is part of a formula for a very productive day. Why are people so Puritanical about naps? They want to see people looking busy. They can be barely conscious and get nothing done, but to surrender consciousness altogether... we're so afraid of that.

21 comments:

I have a futon in my office. There is a door and lock, and shaded glass. So yeah, I take advantage of it when I need to. Here at the law firm, many people have sofas. I don't know if this is a good sign or a bad sign.

Lileks naps every day, or tries to. Even before he started blogging nearly continuously at buzz.mn, he was the among the most productive people I've encountered. I think he could easily be the poster guy for a campaign to rehabilitate the nap's reputation.

As for me: the 20-minute power nap is fantastic, but I have to time it right. If I do it too late in the day, I'm up till 2AM.

I normally don't like napping since it makes me feel groggy for several hours, but my job is so boring I can't help but fall asleep at my desk at least once a week. It usually happens about three in the afternoon, but yesterday it was at ten-thirty in the morning.

Ah, I extol the virtues of a good half-hour nap! It's the only way that mothers of young children get anything done...and the only reason small children have the energy to dismantle a house in no time flat! LOL My best memories with my children are the short time lying with them before we BOTH fell asleep at naptime. I don't think the importance of a midday rest can be stressed enough! :) It's effects are better than any energy drink or cup of coffee -- and way more healthy! Plus, that temporary escape from stress does wonders for one's state of mind, mental acuity, and attitude, ESPECIALLY when taken during breaks/lunch during work hours.

You could say I was a closet napper when I was in college, and I was for a short while in graduate school, but eventually I started being very open about my fondness for naps. My regular naps are so well-known that one friend once asked if I was part cat or something. Fortunately, my dog seems to like naps, too. Every day when I come home from work, we take naps in the living room--I lie on the futon and she lies on her bed off to the side.